Here Comes The Sun
by sTILL-wRITING
Summary: At the time leaving was their only option. Forced to come back to save their own, is the evil that ran them out still very much alive and present?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of General Hospital. **

**Here Comes the Sun**

**1.**

_It must be really bad if he's come back here._ Aviana thinks to herself as she peers through the glass of the hospital room door at the two men having a very deep discussion. She's never seen Ethan like this, so weak, so vulnerable. He's sitting in the seat next to the old man's bed, holding his weak hand in his strong one, whatever he's saying she can tell he really means it. When he's really serious about something he talks with his hands and his head starts going in all different crazy directions and his eyes get really wide . The old man is talking too calming him down. Even thought it looks like he is the one who seems to be dying, _he_ is the one comforting Ethan.

She glances at the name on the hospital's door again, L. Spencer. _Spencer, Spencer, Spencer…definitely a name she knows she isn't allowed to mention. Every time she brings it up they tense up. It's the same way with Cassadine, or Davis for that matter._

"Excuse me, can I help you with something sweetie?" A friendly voice asks from behind making Aviana jump nervously. _Crap, he'd told me to wait in the car._

"No thank you." She replies giving the older woman a not so convincing smile. She notices for the first time two older boys standing behind the woman. All three looking at her as if she had a second head growing out of her neck.

"Then why are you gazing at my Gramps?" The youngest looking one asks her rudely. His attitude throws her off immediately. It was a mistake coming inside.

"Um w-w-well I—" Before she can make up an excuse the door to L. Spencer's room opens and Ethan peers out taking one look at Aviana and the people she's been holding a conversation with. She can see the panic in his eyes.

"_Ethan?_" The older woman exclaims holding her hand to her chest.

"Elizabeth." Ethan says his voice clearly shaken by seeing this woman.

"Wha-what are you doing here?" Elizabeth asks taking a long hard look at Aviana.

"Leaving. Good to see you." He tells her grabbing Aviana's arm and leading her down the hall towards the elevators. She knows it's probably best not to say anything until they are out of the hospital and back the car. Aviana knows he's pissed because he keeps clenching his jaw and has a death grip on the steering wheel.

"Ok, I know you're mad but—"

"I told you to stay in the car." He says cutting her off. When he's angry his voice gets very low and his accent very thick. He doesn't even bother looking her way.

"I know, but I mean, I was curious, and you've never let me anywhere close to Port Charles—"

"For good reason Aviana!" Ethan yells finally losing his cool.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm protecting you?"

"Oh right how could I ever forget? You're protecting me from the big bad city of Port Charles! Whatever!" Aviana yells back at him only propelling Ethan to drive faster. The two hour trip back to their home is a silent one.

When Ethan pulls into the driveway Aviana immediately hops out of the car, barely even letting him come to a complete stop. He sighs, what a freaking day. Realizing it was about to get worse when Aviana went storming through the house he quickly gets out of his vehicle and jogs to her before she can reach the front door. Grabbing her shoulder he spins her around.

"Aviana can we please not make a scene when we go in?" He pleads, not even caring if he comes off as desperate.

"Why because you know mom's going to kill you when she finds out we took a little detour coming home?" She asks defiantly. She's loud, and her voice carries. Seconds later the front door to their house swings open.

"Hey, I was starting to get worried. I figured you two got caught in traffic. What are you doing standing out here?" Kristina asks motioning for them to come inside. Ethan gives Aviana one last pleading look as she walks into the house shaking her head.

"Uh oh, someone looks angry." Kristina remarks noticing the scowl on Aviana's face. Ethan brushes it off giving Kristina a peck on the lips.

"Didn't get her the shoes she was begging for. Maybe on our next trip," Ethan tells her giving his wife a squeeze. Aviana scoffs at him.

"I don't think that's it. Avi what's wrong?" Kristina asks removing Ethan's hand as she steps closer to her daughter.

"Why don't you ask dad? Or better yet ask Elizabeth or L. Spencer!" She yells at her mother as she runs up the stairs. Kristina waits until she hears her daughter's bedroom door slam before she even looks at Ethan.

"Elizabeth or L. Spencer? What did you do?" She cries out. She can feel her chest tightening, her breathing getting heavier. _He didn't…he wouldn't…_she tries to convince herself but taking one look at the guilt written all over her husband's eyes says it all. Ethan helps his wife to the love seat where she begins to break down and cry. He'd made a terrible mistake.

* * *

><p>Quietly Aviana Lovett listens at the top of the steps. She expected her mom to be furious, yelling, screaming, but instead she has to almost lean over the banister to even slightly hear the hushed tones her parents are using. They'd been talking like this for over an hour. Either something bad was going to happen from her being seen in Port Charles or they were sending her to boarding school. Either way, she was pretty much screwed.<p>

"What's going on?" Alex whispers making her jump for the second time that day. She looks over at her little brother and puts a finger to her lips indicating she's still trying to listen to her parent's conversation. It's impossible; this conversation couldn't be picked up if she were standing right behind them. Getting out of her hiding position she motions for Alex to come follow her into her bedroom. When he closes the door Aviana lets out a frustrated growl.

"Avi what happened? I heard you yelling. I went downstairs to find mom was having a panic attack and dad made me go to my room."

"I don't know. Dad and I were having a cool day in Manhattan. We shopped, ate, did some sightseeing. We're driving home when all of sudden he swerves off the highway and takes the exit to Port Charles."

"He _took_ you there?"

"Yes! So he pulls up to the hospital and tells me to wait in the car he'll only be a few minutes."

"So you followed him." Aviana smiled at her little brother, he knew her so well.

"Of course!"

"And…"

"I found Spencers! Dad was sitting there with this L. Spencer and he's like on the verge of tears talking to him and L. Spencer is like rubbing his hand comforting him. It was weird and then as I'm peering at Dad through the doors this woman and her sons come up behind me and ask why I'm looking at their Grandfather."

"Whoa, so that's like…4 Spencers?"

"I guess? Then dad swings open the door and this Elizabeth woman is like shocked to see him. He grabs me and I swear he was practically flying to the elevator, I thought he was freakin superman." Alex immediately goes to Aviana's laptop.

"What are you doing?"

"This may be the key to digging for clues," He says already drawn in by the glow of the computer. He begins looking through the search engine, for the past 6 months they had been attempting to find any information on these people their parents tried so hard to never talk about. Without first names it was difficult, they'd tried SPENCERS, SPENCERS PORT CHARLES, SPENCERS PORT CHARLES NEW YORK, DAVIS, the only name that ever register with the search engine was the name Cassadine. Some sort of Russian Royalty that terrorized the town in the 1980's. Very weird, they understood why their parents didn't like mentioning them. Corinthos had popped up too, but it was mostly information on arrests and crimes committed by the infamous mob boss Sonny Corinthos. But what about the Spencers? Who were these people?

"Bingo." Alex said smiling as he and his sister finally got some real information. L SPENCER PORT CHARLES NEW YORK had 487 hits under the name Luke Spencer.

"That's him! That's the guy dad was visiting!" Aviana said moving closer to the computer. She clicked on a news article dated 3 days ago.

"Luke Spencer, longtime owner of the Haunted Star casino who has been going through a long battle with pancreatic cancer, was been hospitalized for the 3rd time this month. Current owner and daughter of Luke Spencer, Leslie Lu Spencer-Falconeri had no comment when asked if her father's diagnosis had gotten worse. Leslie Lu, who also goes by Lulu, has been in an ongoing public battle with her brother Lucas "Lucky" Spencer Jr. over the Haunted Star estate which was split amongst them, and Ethan Lovett 8 years ago. Lovett was not available for questioning."

The siblings stared at the screen for a moment taking in the information that had just received. Their father was part owner of a casino? Why did Luke give him a casino? Who was this man to their father? A knock on Aviana's door made them quickly close out the link just as Ethan and Kristina walked in.

"You two look like you're up to no good," Kristina jokes taking a seat on her daughter's bed. Ethan stands in the doorframe.

"Before you guys start yelling at me. I'm really really really sorry." Aviana told them preparing for her super punishment.

"Avi, you don't have to apologize. I understand you and Alex have a lot of questions about Port Charles and the Spencers, there just aren't any easy answers to your questions." Kristina explained pulling her daughter into sitting beside her. They were almost identical, same olive skin, and dark brown hair. She'd inherited her father's height and at 13 was already a little taller than her mother.

"There are a lot of bad people in Port Charles, that's why your father and I don't go back there. That's why we've never allowed you two to step foot in that town."

"Until today," Alex added wistfully. Ethan put a hand on his son's mop of curly dark brown hair.

"We love you, and we need to keep you safe." Kristina told her son.

"And Port Charles is not the place to do that, okay?" Ethan added. Kristina gave her daughter a reassuring smile and stood up.

"Okay, I'll let you two get back to…whatever you were doing. Dinner's in an hour." She said as she and her husband walked out. Alex waited until he heard both sets of footsteps going down stairs before he spoke.

"That was it? You didn't even get yelled at!"

"Um that's a good thing. Hurry up get back on the computer! Look up Elizabeth Spencer." She commanded. Alex quickly typed in ELIZABETH SPENCER.

"207 hits. Nurse, research, divorce..blah blah…whoa," Aviana said clicking on the gossip column

**SPENCER GETS OFF WITH COMMUNITY SERVICE**

**_Aiden Spencer (15) was sentenced to 350 hours of community service after being found guilty of stealing hydrocodone from General Hospital. Spencer's mother, Elizabeth Webber, is the head nurse at General Hospital, her access card to the unit was stolen by her son giving him access to the addictive pain pill. Spencer, who is the son of Lucky Spencer, and grandson of Luke Spencer, has been in and out of trouble since 2023. His past record includes theft, and one count of burglary. Hospital spokesperson Morgan Jax, says that the hospital is "extremely disappointed" by the light sentencing insisting that if this crime had been committed by someone without a famous last name they would have had more than a slap on the wrist._**

"That's him! He was at the hospital today with Elizabeth…er, his mom."

"So?"

"_So_, I guarantee you I can find him on Slosh. I guarantee you he'll know why our parents left Port Charles." She told her brother typing in the social media site. She searched Aiden Spencer and the blonde haired boy immediately popped up on their screen.

"What makes you think this Aiden guy is going to be able to help us?"

"Because we're looking for trouble, and it looks like that's his middle name." Aviana said as she typed a message to the boy she'd met briefly a couple hours ago.

_Met you today at the hospital in Port Charles. You told me I was gazing at your gramps. Your mom seemed freaked out when she saw my dad. I'm not allowed anywhere your town and snuck into the hospital. I need your help. I have a lot of questions and you have answers. Hope to hear from you soon._

_-Aviana Lovett_

**A/n: I'm labeling this an Ethina story because…it is largely centered on Ethan and Kristina and their family... Just a little background, in this story, once Helena lets Ethan go when Holly reveals he isn't Luke's son Ethan doesn't wait for any further explanation distraught by what his mother said and Helena murdering Cassandra/Irina (gag me). This story is set 14 years into the future, and although I'm sure technology will have changed drastically in 14 years I'm just not in the mood to be that imaginative. AKA it's flawed. Enjoy. Please review I need some criticism in my life!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: Yeah…it's a bit of a confusing start. Sometimes I like to work my way backwards…randomly thought about a sequel (because I get far too ahead of myself lol) that is set in present time. Hopefully this chapter will give you a little insight on why Ethan and Kristina are no longer in Port Charles.**

**2.**

It's after 11 when Kristina takes a peep into her daughter's room. Aviana is curled up in her bed fast asleep without a care in the world. Why her daughter couldn't have inherited some of her better qualities she'll never know. How wonderful would it have been for Aviana to love school or horseback riding like she had? But no, Aviana was a magnet for trouble, much like she was at that age. She quietly closed Aviana's bedroom door shut taking a deep sigh. Avi was not going to make these next couple years easy for them. After checking in on Alex Kristina finally made her way back downstairs to her own bedroom. She was finally able to speak to her husband for the first time without little eavesdropping ears around. Ethan was already in bed, his eyes glued the TV, but Kristina knew better. His mind was somewhere else.

"You do realize what you've started right? Neither one of them is going to stop until they know about Port Charles and everyone in it, right?" Kristina asked climbing under the covers.

"I don't know what possessed me to take her there with me. It was a rash decision."

"Yes it was," She agreed irritably.

"Kristina-"

"Why on earth did you even go to Port Charles? We left and haven't looked back in 14 years." She studied Ethan's face and noticed the quickest of eye flutters. Someone who didn't know him the way she did would brush it off as nothing, but she knew that look all too well. He was hiding something.

"Ethan…"

"Luke and I have been in contact." Ethan let out a huge sigh of relief. He'd said it, finally.

"What?" She yelled quickly covering her mouth. They both paused for a moment, Ethan muting the TV both trying to tell if her voice had awoken the kids.

"Explain now." She demanded.

"When Luke split the Star between I—"

"You told me you let your lawyers handle that."

"I did…sort of. I was in the process-"

"In the process? What does that mean?"

"I felt like Luke deserved an explanation as to why I couldn't accept and I didn't want it to be conveyed through our lawyers. He deserved way more than me sending information through my attorney. My God I thought the man was my father for 3 years."

"So you've talked to Luke?"

"He understood our situation and he promised he wouldn't say anything. We kept in touch over the past 8 years, and then, when he found out he was sick-"

"Luke's sick?"

"He has pancreatic cancer. Was diagnosed 3 years ago I—I had to see him."

"You've been going to Port Charles for 3 years without telling me?"

"Yes, not very often, I'd go see him maybe once every couple of months usually during—"

"Your PIBA conferences." Kristina finished for him, trying not to let her anger get the best of her.

"Krissy—"

"We agreed, after the mob wars, after my mom—" She choked back her tears when she thought about her mother.

"We agreed that after all the lies and all the suffering that we had to leave that town and never look back. Not only for our own sanity but for the sanity of our _children_! Do you know what danger they would be in if anyone found out that Sonny Corinthos has grandchildren?"

"Well technically Michael has a kid—"

"You've talked to Michael?" She asked feeling the usual mix of pain and regret when she thought of her siblings.

"No, but Luke let me know Michael is married. He has a daughter. Sam and Jason have a son. Dante and Lulu are separated, no kids, Morgan, Molly both no kids. So technically Avi and Alex are Sonny's only biological grandchildren."

"You don't see the harm in that?"

"Of course I do but—"

"How could you lie to me? Do you know how many times I wanted to go back to Port Charles, see my family, and see my siblings, their kids, our friends? But then I thought about how we barely escaped with our lives. I look at Aviana and Alex and how we've raised them in a safe environemnt. They've never known the pain of having someone kidnap them, or how it feels to be shot at, or almost blown up, or watch someone they love be brutally murdered in front of their very eyes." She couldn't stop the tears from running down her face. She felt the weight of the bed as Ethan shifted closer to her wrapping his arms around her but she shoved him away.

"Get off me! You have no idea! None! I gave up my entire life for you Ethan! When you begged me to come back to Port Charles for my own safety I left Yale and I never looked back. And then, everything happened and I didn't have a choice but to run. I did that for you."

"_For me_?" Despite the overwhelming guilt he'd been feeling he couldn't help but draw out a harsh laugh.

"Kristina you can't be serious. I didn't pull you off campus that night because I was bored and wanted to chit chat and catch up on old times! I thought you were in danger! I was trying to save you."

"But I wasn't in danger Ethan! It was trap Ethan and you fell for it. I didn't need you to come safe me, you'd made it perfectly clear back then that you didn't want to be seen as hero." She told him bitterly.

"So everything that's happened is my fault now?" Kristina put her hands over her face and blew out a sigh of frustration.

"The point of the matter is that we made a vow that we would never let our past affect our future. You put our family in danger by going back to Port Charles. I've spent the last 14 years of my life living in fear. Isolating myself from my family, I found solace knowing that at least we were in this together. So how you repay me? By lying, sneaking back to that horrible town, and not only that bringing our daughter there?"

"Kristina, I know bringing Avi was a bad idea but—"

"Did you really think she was going to stay in the car? Have you _met_ our daughter? She is exactly like me! Hard headed, stubborn, rebellious. You knew she was going to follow you!"

"I wasn't thinking! I hadn't heard from Luke in over a week and when I checked the Port Charles herald there was an article about him being back in the hospital I just…blacked out. Avi and I were driving back from the outlets and I saw the exit to Port Charles and the only thing I could think of was Luke. I needed to see him Kristina, if Luke died, and I didn't get a chance to tell him how much I loved him, how much I respected him, regardless of what Holly did to us." Kristina shook his words out of her head not feeling one ounce of empathy for him.

"It's nice to know you got a chance to say your final goodbyes to Luke, Ethan. I never had a chance to say my final goodbyes to my mother. Or did you forget that? Her lifeless corpse, blood everywhere?"

"Kristina—"

"I'm going downstairs." She said hoping out of their bed suddenly.

"It's late."

"Can't sleep. I have a presentation in the morning; I should probably look over those notes." She said avoiding her husband's eye.

* * *

><p>Cameron Spencer was a very light sleeper. It probably started sometime after his little brother Jake died. He was nine at the time, and although he understood the concept of death at that point, there was a part of him that hoped Jake dying had been one really bad joke his parents were playing on him. That his little brother, his best friend, would all of a sudden open his bedroom door jump on his bed and tell him "GOTCHA!"<p>

His mom would watch him sleep after Jake died him and Aiden. But Aiden was just a baby, barely even one. He didn't know what was going on. Every night he'd fall asleep and his mother would open his bedroom door, oh so quietly, but he would always hear it, he'd shut his eyes pretending to sleep as his mom stood there, crying softly, sometimes praying asking God why this happened to her.

Yes, Cameron was a very light sleeper. This is why when he heard a key opening his apartment door close to midnight he immediately sat up in bed. He quietly opened his nightstand grabbing the gun he kept for protection. What could he say? He was paranoid, having the last name Spencer, tended to make people want to test you, see if you lived up to the famous Luke Spencer. Most didn't even think to realize he was only a Spencer by default; he never bothered to correct them.

Cameron tip toed out of his bedroom and hid in the darkness quickly inserting 1 bullet in the chamber. Fortunately for him he had a killer shot. If this intruder had a death wish he'd broken into the right apartment. Closing the chamber pulling the top of the barrel back Cameron wrapped his finger around the trigger. Gun loaded, ready to fire at the intruder. The door quietly opened and a figured masked in a black hoodie snuck in closing it gently behind him.

"Stay there!" Cameron yelled as the figure jumped nervously he watched as the intruder began to reach for something.

"Stop or I'll shoot!"

"Whoa dude put the gun away!" The intruder yelled turning on the light to Cameron's apartment. Aiden Spencer stood his back against the door looking at his brother in disbelief.

"Aiden!" Cameron lowered the gun down letting out a sigh of frustration.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"What the hell are you doing with a gun? I never knew you even owned a gun." Ignoring his little brother he unloaded the chamber as he walked back into his bedroom putting the gun in its hiding spot.

"You have school in the morning! Why are you here?" He asked walking back out in the living room where Aiden was comfortably resting on his couch.

"Just got in, mom would kill me if I came home this late so I sent her a text saying I crashed here."

"You shouldn't lie to mom. And what makes you think I'm letting you stay here Aiden? You're 15 years old you shouldn't be out at midnight! In fact you should be in bed, homework done, ready for school."

"Yeah okay," Aiden said sarcastically taking his hoodie off throwing it on the ground. He got up walking over to Cameron's linen closet pulling out a blanket and extra pillows.

"What is wrong with you? Skipping school, sneaking out, lying to mom. It's bad enough your face is plastered all over the papers for that stupid stunt you pulled at the hospital."

"Oh my God do I have to hear this again?"

"Yeah as a matter of fact, you do. You want to stay overnight, then you have to hear my lecture. You're lucky, _lucky_, the Judge was friends with Uncle Dante or else your ass might be locked up right now." Aiden walked past him fixing his couch into his own little bed.

"I know Cam, you, mom, Uncle Dante, Aunt Lulu, everyone has told me this."

"But it's not getting through to you! Do you want to end up in jail? Locked away for the rest of your life? Let me tell you baby bro, prison doesn't give a crap about you being Luke Spencer's grandson. It's not the PCPD holding cell buddy."

"Oh right because you know so much about prison, right Cameron? You've been a goody two shoes your entire life. The closest you've ever been to prison is taking those kids who are assigned to you on the prison tours to scare them."

"You're right, I don't know a lot about prison. But I've been inside, I've seen what goes on and I know it's not a place I ever want to end up." Aiden snorts at him.

"You'd be a joke in prison," Aiden tells him hoping onto the couch.

"Yeah? And you'd be dead because no one's going to take a little runt like you mouthing off in Pentonville." Cameron tells him fighting the urge to shake him. Before he could lose his cool he heads back to his own room slamming the door. That kid just didn't get it. There was going to come a day when no one could cover for his mistakes.

It's times like this, he wonders how it would've been if Jake were still alive. Would Jake have been the voice of reason? The fine medium between his straight and narrow path and Aiden's destructive behavior? He doesn't even make it to the bed before he collapses onto the ground silently crying.

"I miss you Jake." He croaked curling up in a fetal position. He never understood how he lived in a world where there could be so much death and destruction around, so many horrible wicked people who took the lives of innocent people who lived long healthy lives and yet his 3 year old brother's life was taken from him before he could even enjoy life. It wasn't fair for his little brother to be taken away that early. Life just wasn't fair.

* * *

><p>Aiden Spencer hated when Cameron would pretend to be his father. He didn't need his brother, who was only 8 years older than him, trying to tell him what to do. Hell, his <em>own<em> father, didn't even care enough to pretend he was worried so why should he?

His phone vibrated indicating he had a text message. It was from his mom.

'_Wish you or Cameron would've let me know sooner! Go to bed, and don't be late for school in the morning! Love you baby'_

He'd sent her a text a couple minutes before entering Cam's apartment telling her he'd fallen asleep on Cameron's couch and was sorry he didn't let her know sooner. If there was one thing his mom always trusted completely, it was that he was safe in Cam's care. And he knew that although Cam would always puff out his chest and pretend that he was going to rat him out, he never did.

He decided to log onto his Slosh account, a whole bunch of people he didn't like talking about a whole lot of nothing. He had 15 new messages, most from girls who found his 'bad boy image' hot, or guys who thought it was cool to 'hang' with Aiden Spencer, he was surprised by an unfamiliar face that popped into his inbox.

_Met you today at the hospital in Port Charles. You told me I was gazing at your gramps. Your mom seemed freaked out when she saw my dad. I'm not allowed anywhere your town and snuck into the hospital. I need your help. I have a lot of questions and you have answers. Hope to hear from you soon._

_-Aviana Lovett_

He recognized her from the hospital! His mom and brother forced him to go see his grandpa at the General Hospital. He loved Luke, wanted to be Luke, but seeing his gramps, withered up, hooked up to machines wasn't his thing. They had been walking down the hall towards Luke's room when they noticed this girl, tall, olive skin, long dark hair peeping through Luke's room. It was weird, and when his mom called her out she freaked, like she'd been caught stealing from them or something. To top it off, some guy comes out of the room and he could've swore his mom was about to have a heart attack when she saw him.

When the guy and his daughter ran off, Elizabeth brushed it off as if nothing had happened. Lovett. No one had even given him the full story, but he'd heard the name Ethan Lovett comes up in conversations. He was some sort of uncle to him. He skipped town after the blood bath massacre of 2012 and apparently never looked back. His daughter wasn't allowed near Port Charles? He had a couple questions of his own. Who was Ethan Lovett and why didn't anyone like mentioning his name? What happened that made this guy leave town. He'd asked Cameron a few times and he gave him the standard 'I was young, I don't remember', but he knows that's bull. Aiden hit reply.

_What makes you think I have the answers, Lovett? My mom tells me nothing. But I've heard of your dad before. Let's make a deal, come back to PC, we compare notes, and we put the pieces to the puzzle together. (718) 555-8130. Call me._

_-Aiden Spencer_


	3. Chapter 3

3.

Mornings at the Lovett residence were usually filled with laughter, jokes, and crazy stories. This particular Monday morning however, was eerily quiet. Kristina had slept in the guest bedroom last night. Her conversation with her husband on repeat in her head. No matter how Ethan tried to reason with her, she could not shake the feeling of betrayal. Risking his life was one thing; at this moment she didn't give a damn what he did with himself. But risking their children, the family they had gone to great lengths to protect was mind boggling to her.

Ethan hadn't slept at all since Kristina had left their bedroom last night. Knowing his wife didn't even want to be in the same room with him was tearing him up inside. Yes, she had the right to be angry. He could have exposed their children to the evil that could no doubt still be waiting for them in Port Charles, but he'd been careful. For 3 years he'd successfully maneuvered around the obstacles to check in with Luke. His biggest mistake was checking in on Luke with Aviana waiting in the car.

Aviana's mind was filled to the brim with ideas after the message she received this morning when she checked her Slosh account. Aiden Spencer had heard of her father and he wanted her to come to Port Charles so they could compare notes! But how? She couldn't drive, and even if she did find a ride to Port Charles how would she even pull off getting there without either of her parents figuring it out? It was 2 hours away, she was sure her mom would start keeping a close eye on her now especially so this was going to be a difficult task.

Alex was completely silent. He'd been woken up in the middle of the night to his parents fighting. It happened very quickly but he cracked his bedroom door open and watched as his mom went to the guest bedroom to sleep. He'd hacked into Aviana's Slosh account when she was in the shower that morning and saw that Aiden Spencer asked her to come to Port Charles. If his sister ran away, his parents would only get angrier at each other. Three of his classmates had parents who were divorced. He feared he would be joining their club very soon.

"I have to get to work," Ethan said suddenly breaking the silence that filled their breakfast table. He grabbed his barley touched omelet and took it to the sink. Kristina ignored him keeping her head down as she stabbed at her own eggs.

"Kids you need me to drop you off at school?" Ethan asked wiping his hands.

"I'd rather take the bus thanks," Aviana told him coolly as she brushed passed her father to put her own plate in the sink. She was still angry at him for the way he'd reacted to her following him to the hospital. She headed upstairs to her bedroom to gather her books before she missed her bus.

"I'll go!" Alex said hopping down from his seat at the table.

"Alex don't forget your book report," Kristina reminded him. Alex smiled at his mom. Giving her a hug and kiss he nodded.

"I won't, I promise." He told her running back upstairs to get his book bag leaving Ethan and Kristina alone in the kitchen.

"Must have been one hell of a presentation for you to pull an all-nighter." Ethan told her once the kids were both upstairs.

"You know I really don't think you have any right to use that bitter sarcastic tone with me right now." Kristina said to him clearing her and Alex's plates from the table.

"I don't have a right? Last night you basically told me I ruined your life. I'm so sorry that we fell in love, got married, and raised a family together. Forgive me for loving you."

"Stop it right now! I never said I had any regrets over being with you!"

"Sure sounded like it," He replied.

"The only regret I have is believing that you would keep our family safe."

"Kristina I explained—"

"Your explanation wasn't good enough!" She yelled slamming the plates down in the sink sending pieces if ceramic dishware flying everywhere.

"Whoa," They escaped the lips their kids, They turned to find Alex and Aviana staring wide eyed at them. Their parents never fought. Most of the time they walked around as if they were lovesick teenagers.

"Let's go Alex," Ethan said not even looking at his wife as he and his son exited the kitchen. Kristina shut her eyes as she heard the front door slam shut behind them. Her hands were trembling. This wasn't her, she didn't raise her voice, and slam dishes in the sink, and scare her children. That was classic Sonny Corinthos. She felt sick to her stomach just thinking about how similar they were even after all these years.

"Mom?" Aviana called softly, she wasn't sure how long her daughter had been by her side.

"Mom?" She called again, damn near whispering it this time.

"Yes Avi?"

"I didn't mean to make you and dad fight." _Oh God, _Kristina thought in horror as she looked into her daughters sorrowful brown eyes, _she thinks this is her fault._

"You didn't make us fight sweetheart. None of this is your fault."

"Then why is it so important that Alex and I stay away from Port Charles?"

"Aviana, please not now."

"If not now when? It didn't look like a bad place! Everyone seemed friendly…a little freaked out by Dad being there…but nice." Aviana explained hoping her mother would stop keehadn't caught her slip up.

"Not now." Kristina said firmly.

"Don't _you_ have family in Port Charles? I think it's really weird that my mom won't tell me if I have aunts or uncles or cousins! What about a Grandma or a Grandpa or-"

"Aviana Natasha that is enough!" Kristina screamed not even able to control her temper anymore. Her daughter mirrored her image, her own dark eyes squinting in anger.

"I'm so tired of being lied to!"

"You are a child who needs to stay in a child's place. This isn't any of your business."

"You and dad are both big fat liars! I hate this family!" Aviana yelled back grabbing her books and house key as she too slammed the front door making her way to the bus stop.

Alone in an empty house Kristina called her job and let them know those 2 months of vacation time that she had accrued needed to be used immediately. The tone of her voice concerned her supervisor. Kristina had been working for them for the past 8 years; she could count on one hand the number of times she'd called off from Tannin Cosmetics. She genuinely loved working in their marketing division, and it showed through her dedication and commitment to the company. But Kristina could feel it in her bones that everything was not alright.

She walked into her bedroom shutting the door behind her. She pulled open her walk-in closet standing on her step stool as she moved her shoe boxes aside grabbing a small wooden chest that she kept tucked away. It was the few things she had remembered to pack with her before she left Yale. Little trinkets, her friendship bracelet from years ago that Ethan had given her. A diamond hair pin Molly had given her for good luck Christmas 2011.

Her most cherished item in the chest however was a picture of her, her mom, Molly, and Sam. She caressed the picture of her mom and sisters. God she missed them. She wondered how Sam and Jason's son looked, how Molly must look at 28, what type of grave her sister's had picked out for their mother. Kissing the picture she let the first of many tears fall. Her life was in shambles.

* * *

><p>Cameron Spencer woke up on the floor of his bedroom with a faint headache. He must've cried himself to sleep. <em>What a mature thing for a 23 year old man to do. <em>He thought to himself sarcastically as he sat up and rubbed the line imprint on his face from the hardwood floors. He sniffed the air and couldn't help but smile. Freshly brewed coffee was Aiden's peace offering. He rose to his feet and opened the door to find his younger brother at the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal and a large mug of coffee.

"Mornin," Aiden said in between bites. Cameron grunted him a dry hello walking past him to get to the coffee pot.

"Look I know you're mad at me—"

"Mad, disappointed, irritated, you have no idea how many different adjectives come to mind." Cameron said as he pulled out a mug filling it the brim with the steaming hot liquid that could revitalize him.

"I'm really sorry about last night. I swear to you I wasn't doing anything wrong." Aiden promised. He would never admit to Cameron that he heard him mumbling something about Jake last night. Yes, he was irritated that Cam thought he could run his life, but making him upset enough to have another Jake breakdown made him feel like crap.

"That doesn't matter. You were still out past curfew and—" He stopped when he noticed the look on his brother's face. It was going in one ear and out the other.

"Never mind. It's a new day so let's just start the day fresh, okay?"

"Ok. Thanks Cam…for the advice and for letting me crash here." Cameron gave him an encouraging grin ruffling his hair as he walked past him into the living room. Sometimes behind the hard-faced façade he could still see his baby brother in there.

"I'll always look out for you Aiden, remember that." He told him flipping on the local news that showed a whole lot of nothing. Crime rate going down, the weather was going to be in the high 60's, Metro Court was having another fundraiser, blah blah blah.

"Same old same old." Aiden said snatching the remote out of his hand and changing it to the sports channel. "Nothing ever happens in this town. I don't know why they even waste time putting this on the air."

"Believe me nothing happening in Port Charles is a good thing. This town hasn't always been so safe," Cameron told his little brother.

"Back before Sonny Corinthos retired?"

"Sonny Corinthos wasn't the only bad guy in this town. But yes, him retiring was one of the reasons our city's crime rate decreased dramatically."

"So what's the other reason? Ethan Lovett?" Aiden probed he watches as his brother's back straightened.

"Seriously Cam what's the deal with this guy? Was that really him yesterday? I thought he'd like run away and killed one of Corinthos' kids or something? Molly's sister, right?"

"Aiden please," Cameron said not even wanting to start up this discussion. He and his mom had a long discussion after the odd hospital run in on whether or not they should sit down and explain to Aiden what happened but decided bringing up the past wasn't going to help anything.

"What? I mean you and Mom won't tell me anything. That's the legend that he like beat the crap out of her and then fell in love with her and then him and old Helena Cassadine murdered her and ran away."

"Seriously? Ethan didn't kill Kristina Davis. Is that really a rumor? Kids these days, do they even know what a newspaper is?"

"So what did happen? I know there's way more to the story. And don't say you don't know. You remember Jake dying, and being in a bus accident but you can't remember what happened to Ethan Lovett?"

"No I don't. I was like 10 Aiden and—"

"You're lying! The same way mom lies whenever I ask her about it. The only one who ever gives me straight answers is Grandpa Luke."

"Gramps is going through enough right now Aiden. Don't worry him with old skeletons."

"How about Molly? I'm sure she knows what—" Cameron sprang up from the couch and was in his face in a flash.

"Don't ever talk to Molly about Kristina. She's been through enough in the past and she doesn't need a little twerp like you to remind her o fit." Aiden pushed his brother away from him.

"I see I've hit a nerve." He said with a smirk. It was no secret that Cameron had been following Molly Davis around like a puppy dog since their high school days.

"Molly's my friend,"

"Yeah right! You're like in love with her."

"Go get a shower and get dressed for school. I have plenty of clothes you can fit into." Cameron said to him pushing him roughly as he took his coffee back to his bedroom. Aiden sprang towards Cameron's door blocking his way.

"Wow you like really love her? You probably go to bed fantasizing about her. Oh Molly! Oh Molly!" Cameron gritted his teeth trying to ignore Aiden's childish antics.

"Shut up," He told him calmly. Aiden got the hint, quickly dropping the act shrugging his shoulder.

"Alright I'm getting in the shower," He told him moving out of the way so Cameron could get through. "By the way, I'm going to find out about Ethan Lovett whether you like it or not."

Cameron grabbed him by the back of his shirt collar. "I'm warning you if I find out that you said anything to Molly I will beat you to a bloody pulp. Just because I'm on the right side of the law doesn't mean I'm a nice guy. I know how to use my gun Aiden Spencer so don't tempt me." Aiden brushed his brother's cryptic warning off him as he closed the bathroom door…he'd never admit how scared he was. He'd heard stories of Cameron's real father being a little off in the head. He wondered how much of his dad's genes did Cam really have?

* * *

><p>"How much do you love me?" Aviana asked as her best friend since kindergarten Kaley took a sit beside her on their school bus.<p>

"What did you do now?" Kaley asked pulling out her bag of makeup that she hid from her very conservative mother.

"For once, this wasn't really my fault." Since she'd received the response back from Aiden Spencer Aviana had been wracking her brain trying to figure out how she could travel out of town without her parents realizing it.

"Kaley, can you keep a secret?" Kaley rolled her eyes at her.

"I keep all of your secrets."

"You remember when I told you my parents never talk about their past? I don't know my dad's family, my mom's family, nothing."

"Yeah I remember. They don't like talking about the town they're from."

"My dad took me there. Well to the hospital there, he told me to wait in the car, but you know me, so I followed him, he found me, I told my mom, they argued. It was bad." Aviana told her summarizing her family's weekend.

"Your parents are like perfect, they never argue."

"Exactly. I've been dying to know what happened to them. Trying to figure out what made them leave."

"And…"

"I now have an inside person in Port Charles. This guy named Aiden, I ran into him and his mom at the hospital and his mom recognized my dad and like freaked out. So I found him on Slosh and he wants to meet up in Port Charles to compare notes." She told her pulling up the Slosh page from her phone.

"He's hot," Kaley said eyeing the brown eyed guy with the chestnut colored hair smirking in his profile picture.

"Ew, I'm not flirting with the guy. He could have vital information on my parents and who they were in the past."

"Won't that make your mom and dad argue more?"

"Maybe…probably but this is important! I have to go there."

"You're really going to go to Port Charles? How?"

"Yes, and I'm going to need your help."

"Oh no, Avi…"

"Look just give me a couple hours to come up with a plan. I promise I won't get you in trouble. If anything you'll just have to pretend I'm staying the night at your house or something."

"Are you crazy?"

"Yes!" Aviana answered giggling.

"Look, I need to polish over the details. I could tell my parents I'm staying over your house tomorrow, and then Wednesday is the field trip to the Planetarium so my parents wouldn't have to know anything! It's fool proof!"

"Yeah but you'd be missing from school, they'll call your house."

"I can sound just like my mom on the phone. I'm gonna call myself into school sick, as long as I'm back before the 3rd day I don't need a doctor's excuse." Aviana explained as their bus stopped in front of Flowerton Middle School.

* * *

><p>Ethan threw down the fact findings report on one of his best poker dealers the <em>Mala Suerte<em> Casino had seen in years. After several different odd mishaps at Rocco Montero's table, Ethan was forced to run an investigation on his good friend and was more than displeased by the findings. Apparently, when Rocco was hired, they hadn't done a thorough background check on the man formerly known as Enrique Colon who'd spent 3 years in a Texas prison for being one of the masterminds behind a billion dollar card dealer scheme in Texas casinos.

This was turning out to be a horrible day. Not only had he gotten the cold shoulder from his wife and daughter this morning, but his son had been giving him nervous glances the entire ride to school. On top of the mini war that was brooding in his home, he was now keeping a very close lookout for anything mob or Cassadine related.

He couldn't get his conversation with Kristina out of his head. In all the years they'd been together, she'd never used that tone of voice with him. The hurt and betrayal and disgust, he deserved it all. _We made a vow that we would never let our past affect our future_, he remembered her saying. He'd broken their most sacred promise, a promise that had kept them safe up until yesterday.

_May 19, 2012_

_**You've reached the Davis residence. If you're calling for Kristina, try her cell phone. If you're calling for Molly she is grounded. If you're calling for me, you're probably a bill collector or an annoying salesperson or Diane I'm avoiding you. Have a good day! **_

_Kristina sighed as she listened to her mother's voice on the other answering machine. It was her 3__rd__ attempt to contact Molly or Sam after the incident. Sam's cell number was disconnected, and the lakehouse number went straight to their voicemail. She knew Ethan had attempted contacting Johnny, with no luck. _

"_Still not picking up?" Ethan asked. She jumped at the sound of his voice. She figured he'd follow her to the train station where she was trying to collect her thoughts so she snuck out of their shared motel room as quietly as possible just a couple minutes earlier. They'd finally made their way to California. At the time, it seemed like a good idea. Kristina was in a state of shock after witnessing what had happened to her mother. She hadn't even had time to process what was going on before they had to leave town. He thought the Golden state would cheer her up in some way. But it hadn't, there was no amount of cheering up that could erase witnessing such a devastating loss._

"_No," Kristina answered quietly as Ethan took a seat beside her on the cold bench._

"_It's probably not a good idea to go wandering around by yourself."_

"_I didn't go very far, and it's not like anyone knows who we are here." She answered staring out blankly at the bare train tracks. _

"_Still, you remember what happened in Ohio. Those guards for Helena came out of nowhere. They could be tracking us right now, planning to murder us as we speak. We have to be very careful love," He replied. He fought the urge to pull her into his arms. Their relationship for the past couples weeks had been a strained one. Their first night away she fell asleep crying into his arms, he would've given his own life in place of Alexis's if it would have erased the pain Kristina was feeling. By the time they woke up the next morning Kristina had tried her damndest to avoid him she barely spoke to him in full sentences._

_He knew how it felt to lose a parent. He remembered the days after his parents passed, the numbness, the empty feeling that he believed would never go away. Finding his biological parents softened the blow, yes, but Holly and Luke…or Holly and Robert hadn't raised him. They weren't there for his first steps, or when he was learning how to ride a bike, his first day of school, and his first heartache. Those memories belonged to the Lovett's. _

"_Would it be that bad?" Kristina asked suddenly, meeting his gaze for the first time._

"_Sorry?"_

"_Them tracking us down and murdering us. Would it really be that horrible?"_

"_Kristina—"_

"_What the hell do I have to lose Ethan? I have nothing to live for."_

"_Don't say that,"_

"_It's the truth!" She yelled chocking out a heartbreaking sob. "My mom is gone. My sisters blame me for what happened,"_

"_You don't know that they blame you,"_

"_Molly does, you didn't hear her screaming at me for baiting Helena. Sam probably blames me too but would never admit it to my face. I'm so tired of being responsible for so much death."_

"_What happened to Alexis wasn't—"_

"_If it wasn't for Sam's miscarriage I would've been dead years ago," Kristina continued not even listening to what Ethan had to say. _

"_So technically my first niece's death was my fault. Claudia's baby, Claudia, Keifer, Mr. Bauer, my mom. Maybe Helena should just end it now, the world would probably be a better place without me in it." Ethan knelt on the ground directly in front of Kristina._

"_Don't you ever say that. You are the strongest woman I've ever known. You may not have had the most ideal childhood, neither have I, but Krissy you are a survivor. It may look like your entire world is over right now, but there will come a day when it won't hurt as much. You'll always miss your mom, but it's going to get better."_

"_It will never get better."_

"_Yes it will. Let me tell you love, this world would not be a better place if you weren't in it. I know I wouldn't be able to handle myself if something happened to you. Right now you are my life Kristina, and I need you. We're in this together,"_

"_What are we gonna do Ethan?"_

"_I don't know, but what we aren't going to do is give up." He told her wiping the tears from her eyes. It was in that moment that he knew. Everything Kristina had told him in the past about burying his true feelings for her were absolutely positively correct. _

"_I'm so afraid," Kristina admitted._

"_Don't be. I love you way too much to let anything happen to you," He watched her eyes widen at the word 'love'. _

"_I love you too," He smiled at her as he planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. _

"_Let's go home," They walked hand in hand back to the dingy Lancaster, California motel room they had been staying in for the past week. Both wondering what their proclamations of love meant but neither wanting to probe the subject further. Kristina reached for the hotel key in her pocket when Ethan stopped her. His eyes were focused on their motel door. It had been kicked open. _

"_Wait here," He whispered stepping inside the room. The room had been tossed, their belongings thrown everywhere. He could faintly hear a scuffle in the bathroom that set his alarm bells off. He backed out of the room and reached for Kristina._

"_What's—"_

"_We have to go now."_

"_Our bags—"_

"_Come on Kristina—" She ignored him running inside and quickly snatching a small cedar box from pile of clothes scattered. As she made her way back out of their room Ethan guided her by the small of her back as they ran down the stairs. Although he regretted it at the time, he was now thankful for switching cars in New Mexico. He sped out of the lot Kristina's tiny hand in his._

"_They're tracking our calls aren't they?" She asked quietly._

"_Most likely," He replied. Kristina slipped her hand out of his pulling her cell out of her pocket. She reached down in the cup holder grabbing Ethan's phone and then rolled down the window tossing them both out._

"_We're really on our own now, aren't we?" She asked him. They both knew the level of terror Helena was capable of. If they kept playing this cat and mouse game with her, people they loved were going to start getting hurt instead of them._

"_It looks like it."_

"_So where do we go from here?"_

"_Somewhere unexpected, if we maintain a low profile we should be okay."_

"_We could start our lives over and in a couple years, probably return to Port Charles, right?" She asked him hopefully._

"_Right," He told her driver faster towards their next location._

He wished they could have kept that promise. Months later when they discovered they were going to be parents everything changed. Going back to Port Charles now wouldn't just risk their lives, but their child's life. Together, they made the painful decision to raise Aviana outside of Port Charles. Vowing that as long as the threat of Helena Cassadine still existed they would never return.

"Mr. Lovett?" His assistant Renee called giving a gentle knock on the door.

"Yes?"

"You called for Mr. Montero, he's in the waiting area." She informed him.

"Please send him in," He told her, popping two pills into his mouth for the migraine that was slowly creeping into his head. What a horrible day indeed.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Just a warning to my readers I am a huge_ Kill Bill _fan-well I'm a Tarantino fan period the man is a genius but I have special place reserved in my heart for Kill Bill volumes 1&2. The sequence in which the story is told is not only brilliant but captivating. I love flashbacks, I love out of order and this story (Here Comes The Sun) is very much out of order. This chapter is solely a Kristina chapter where she is having tons of flashbacks. So the majority of the italicized text is flashback mode. Mkay? Another warning this chapter contains a few moments of mild language, I apologize in advance (and so close to Easter Sunday **_**iQue Lastima!**_**). Once again the support I get from these fics overwhelms me. Just seeing how many people actually take the time to **_**look**_** at my story is awesome! EnjoY!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**any**_** of the characters associated with General Hospital.**

_Her breath was shaky as she held Molly close to her. They were both lying flat on the cold damp ground. One of Helena's men was pacing back and forth looking for them. He was too idiotic to search the bushes, the most obvious hiding spot for them. She looked down at her trembling little sister who had not uttered a single word since Ethan forced them out of the lake house. Helena would pay for what she did to them._

_Ethan was still trapped inside with that monster. She refused to let anyone else she loved die that night._

_Molly would be safe in the bushes. If she hurried, she could distract them; give Ethan enough time to run. In the distance she could hear crashing coming from her childhood home and then the sounds of footsteps sprinting away from her and Molly back towards the house. It was either now or never. She released her grip of Molly turning to instruct Molly to stay low when she was shoved back onto the ground by her sister unexpectedly._

"_This is your entire fault!" Molly yelled. Kristina began to panic, fearing someone would hear them. She attempted to get up to shush Molly but Molly was on top of her in an instant._

"_If you hadn't showed up mom would be fine!"She cried._

"_Molly—"_

"_What did you do to piss of Helena? Why did Helena-"With all of her might Kristina pushed Molly off of her putting her hand over Molly's mouth._

"_Not now! Molly I have to go back for Ethan. Please stay here, keep low. I know you have your cell on you call Mac or Dante tell them we need help." Molly nodded still seething with anger. _

"_Mom's dead and you're worried about Ethan. This is all your fault."_

"I_ had no idea she would—"_

"_You had some idea or else you wouldn't have come home! Helena came here waiting for you guys to show up. It should've been you and Ethan. I hate you and I wish Helena would have murdered you instead." Molly told her in a calm low voice Kristina had never heard from her sister before. Kristina gave Molly one last pleading look before standing up._

"_I'm sorry Molly." _

"Kristina?" Kristina shot her head up immediately pulling herself out of her dismal thoughts. She absolutely abhorred Dr. Bayer's waiting room area. She never could understand why people thought the sound of running water was relaxing. It never put her at ease, never brought her any comfort. If anything, it was a tad annoying and made her want to constantly go to the bathroom.

Because there was a strict no cell phone policy in the waiting area, Kristina was forced to block out the sound of the water fountain. Usually doing so by closing her eyes and replaying happier times in her life. Her private wedding ceremony with Ethan, the first time she held her daughter, her 30th birthday when Ethan and the kids surprised her with a trip to Australia.

Today wasn't a day for good memories for Kristina Lovett. This is the reason why she found herself following the older woman into the plain cream colored office. She took a seat in the plush tan chair making herself comfortable.

"I have to admit I was very surprised to see you'd made an emergency appointment for this afternoon," Dr. Michelle Bayer said as she took a seat at her desk directly across from Kristina.

"It's been a very long time, almost an entire year since our last appointment. How've you been?"

"Fine," Kristina told her quietly fiddling with the diamond ring on her left finger. Michelle pulled open her file.

"How about your job? I believe the last time we spoke they were considering moving into a larger office building?"

"Work's fine. We moved two blocks away 7 months ago." Kristina answered her in the same monotone voice.

"And your marriage?"

"Fine," Michelle sighed placing Kristina's open file down in her desk in frustration. She gave Kristina an exasperated look over her glasses that were sitting on the tip of her nose. Kristina sometimes wondered if the reason she chose Michelle as her therapist was because of the similar mannerisms the woman shared with her own mother.

"Kristina, you know I've never pressured you into talking. It took quite a long time for you to finally be comfortable enough to open up to me. I'm sure you didn't call an emergency session with me just to let me know that you're doing fine."

"Michelle, I'm so sorry." Kristina said relaxing her back into the chair. "My life is a complete mess right now."

"Care to elaborate?"

"I've just spent the past 5 hours on the floor of my walk in closet crying while clutching a picture of my mother." Kristina revealed.

It had been a long time since she'd broken down like that over Alexis. It was easier for her to cope with her grieve by not having constant reminders of her past around.

"Kristina, it's perfectly normal to mourn the loss of your mother. I've told you before there are no time limits or requirements for grieving."

"It wasn't just about grieving Michelle. I mean yes, the tears were for my mother, but it was triggered by my fear that my family may be in grave danger."

"Why do you feel like they're in danger? Were you threatened?"

"No we haven't been threatened at least not yet," Kristina said giving her a sad smile. "This past weekend Ethan and my oldest Aviana went on a little father/daughter shopping spree in Manhattan."

Kristina remembered how nervous she had been watching her Ethan and Avi pull off for the trip. At the time, she believed it was the closest Ethan had ever been to Port Charles since they'd left. Moving to Delaware had been a huge risk for them after Aviana was born, but after settling into the small town of Flowerton, they realized it was so far off the map that even Helena Cassadine wouldn't go looking for them there.

"On their way back home he made a detour into Port Charles. He told me that he had to stop there to see his father who has been battling pancreatic cancer."

"That's awful," Michelle said taking a quick skim over her notes. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to interrupt you. I wasn't aware you or your husband were in contact with anyone from—"

"We aren't." Kristina said her eyes growing dark when she thought of the lies Ethan had told her.

"He's been lying to me. Ethan's a part of the security management for the _Mala Suerte_ casino. He led me to believe for years that the casino would send him on these training seminars when in fact it was just an excuse for him to go to Port Charles. Putting himself back into danger is one thing, but to bring my daughter to that horrible place."

"Did something happen to Aviana?"

"Yes. She followed him into the hospital and was seen. Luckily by no one who would put her in immediate danger, but what if the wrong person would have discovered her? One look at Aviana and you know she's mine. How could he be so stupid?"

"Kristina, I have to ask, every time you've spoke about Port Charles, New York you mention the 'evil' that forced you and your husband out of the town."

"Correct."

"You've never fully explained what the evil presence is." Kristina sighed.

"It's something I don't like to talk about. Probably because I always end up in a tug-o-war with myself over whether or not if I'd done something different that night, maybe none of those events would have happened."

"You believe you could have changed the way that night went?"

"Yes."

"What do you believe you did wrong?"

"Maybe if I would've just ignored Ethan's call that night, maybe everything would have been different." Kristina closes her reliving that night again in her head. She opens her eyes and she's 19 years old again sitting in her dorm room overwhelmed with school work she's positive she will never catch up on when her cell phone rings.

"_Eth—"_

"_Kristina where are you?" Ethan asks her._

"_The same place I've been for the past couple months."She answers him sarcastically placing her book down on her study desk._

"_Are you okay?" He asks his voice filled to the brim with panic._

"_Of course I am. Ethan what's going on?"_

"_I'll explain to you when I get there. I'm on my way."_

"_To Yale?"_

"_Yes. Is your roommate home?"_

"_No, Lindsey's visiting her family in—"_

"_You're by yourself?"_

"_Yeah, so?"_

"_Krissy, go lock your doors now."_

_"They're already-"_

_"If anyone that isn't me knocks or tries to get in call campus security. Don't open that door unless it's me on the other side alright?"_

"_Ethan you're scaring me. What's happened? Is my dad okay? Is my mom—?"_

"_They're fine. I'll be there in less than an hour. Stay safe luv" Ethan replied hanging up. Kristina dropped her cell phone as she rushed to her dormitory door. It was already locked but she still double checked it and put the dead bolt on. _

_Walking over to her dresser Kristina opened her jewelry box and grabbed the thin silver chain with the decorative key pendant from the array of necklaces she had. She reached under her bed until she found the silver box that she kept locked away and shoved towards the back so no one could see. Using the key she opened the box and pulled out the .38 gun her father had gotten her as a going away present and waited for Ethan to arrive._

"This is the night you were chased out of town?"

"Yes. I'm sure I mentioned to you that I attended the University of Yale for a short amount of time. I started late in the year and had been having a tough time catching up. When Ethan finally showed up that night it was my ticket out of that hell hole. But at what price?" She asked herself.

"I'd never seen Ethan so panicked. His whole demeanor had changed; so much was going on in town. A war had broken out—"

"I'm sorry a war?"

"A mob war." Kristina clarified grimly.

"_Ethan are you alright?" Kristina asked shocked by the state her best friend as she opened her door letting him in. His dark brown hair was askew and his eyes though large with fear had dark circles under them as if he hadn't slept in weeks. Ethan took one look at Kristina and pulled her into a tight hug._

"_Thank God you're okay." He said gripping her long dark tresses in one hand as he reached down and gave her a kiss on the head._

"_Why wouldn't I be?" She asked once he released her. Ignoring the parade that her body was currently throwing due to Ethan's sudden fondness of giving her hugs and kisses she closed her making sure she locked it behind them._

"_Helena Cassadine tried to kill me yesterday and I think she may be trying to kill you next."_

"_What?" He proceeded to tell her about how she held him and Luke captive after shooting her own daughter to death. The only thing that saved him was his mother's odd timing revealing that he was actually Robert Scorpio's son._

"_Luke's not your father?"_

"_I don't know anymore Krissy. Holly tried to explain but I didn't want to hear her out. I was leaving the castle when Helena's men forced me into one of her hiding spots. She went on and on about making me suffer in ways I'd never imagine. That if she couldn't get the joy out of Luke watching me die in front of him she'd make me watch someone I love die. I guess she drugged me because I didn't wake up until the next day."_

"_Why would you think Helena's here to kill me?"_

"_I didn't at first. I convinced Spinelli to have his network search for any hits on Helena's whereabouts. It was difficult tracking her, but one of Spinelli's hacker friends tracked her phone to New Haven."_

"_Oh my God,"_

"_I had to get to you. If that old bitch touched you—"_

"_She hasn't Ethan I'm fine." Kristina reassured him._

"_You have to come back to Port Charles with me. I can't leave you here unprotected."_

"_Have you told my father about this? I'm sure he's not going to let Helena do anything to me. Or my mom for that matter." Kristina asked wondering why Ethan wouldn't have gone to her father immediately. Despite the fact that Sonny hated Ethan for ignoring his warnings to stay away from her, he'd never turn up his nose to the fact that his only daughter may be in danger._

"_Have you spoken to anyone from home in the past...er...day or two?"_

"_No why?" Ethan sighed._

_"You might want to sit down then."_

_"What happened?" Kristina asked him watching as Ethan ran his hands through his messy hair nervously._

"_I don't know all the details and Johnny's a bit of a wreck himself at the moment so he wasn't much help. All I know is something happened between Sonny and Anthony."_

"_Is my Dad alright?" Kristina asked fearing the worse. _

"_Sort of. Someone took a shot at Dante but Sonny took the bullet for him—" Kristina felt her chest get heavier. Her dad had been shot. _

"_I guess it wasn't fatal because Sonny apparently tried to chase Anthony off the road in his car, shot out Anthony's tire. Anthony spun out of control, hit a young family, I think killing the dad and the toddler."_

"_Oh my God. My dad…he killed a toddler?"_

"_I have no idea. I've been unconscious for a good amount of time luv."_

"So y_ou're telling me that my dad was shot and yet still managed to drive around chasing Anthony? I guess he's been arrested now right? Where's Jason?"_

"_Oh God…that's another thing. Jason had to have another brain surgery."_

"_What the hell is going on? I thought Jason's surgery went well the first time? Why didn't my mom or Sam tell me any of this? Just because I'm away at school doesn't mean I should be cut off from the family!"_

"_Krissy…there's more." She had to sit down on her bed when she felt her knees buckled in as Ethan explained that there had been an explosion in the lab where Robin had been working killing her instantly. Not Robin, sweet Robin Scorpio. Family friend, former employer. _

Kristina stopped mid story when she noticed that Michelle had stopped scribbling in her notepad and was staring at her in amazement.

"You stopped taking notes."

"I'm sorry in the past 15 minutes you've been in my office I've learned more about your life before Flowerton than in the 12 years that I've had you as a patient. Your husband being held captive by a woman threatening to kill you, your father being in a mob related accident where he possibly killed a man and his child, your brother in law being on the verge of death only to be saved by his friend, the doctor who was killed in a lab explosion? All in one night?" Michelle asked clutching her chest. Kristina nodded solemnly.

"That's Port Charles, New York."

"I apologize for being so surprised. You've just never opened up to me like this before."

"No need to apologize, in all honesty I'm a little surprised myself. I don't like speaking about what happened to my family but if I don't get help now. I've realized that holding all of my emotions in over the years hasn't helped. Ethan doesn't like talking about it and I really have no other support system besides you."

"Well I'm glad you've come to me for help, Kristina. My door is always open to you." Michelle told her grabbing her notepad flipping back a couple of pages.

"Kristina I want to go back to something you said earlier. You said if you would have ignored Ethan's call that night everything would have been different. May I ask what exactly you feel responsible for that night?"

"If I would've been killed, my mom would probably still be alive. My sisters wouldn't hate me. Yes, Ethan may have mourned for a bit but he would have eventually moved on with his life."

"But you wouldn't have two beautiful kids," Michelle rationed.

"Very true. Aviana and Alexander changed my life for the better. But look how our lives have affected them. Just this morning Aviana asked me how unfair it was that she doesn't know anything about whether or not she has aunts or uncles or cousins. It kills me to hide things from my kids."

"Why not tell them the truth?"

"They're children. I had my life scarred at a very young age; I promised that my kids would never have to live through what I had to. Bad enough the news is filled with horrible stories of murder, and war, and corruption. I just want to protect them for as long as I can. Maybe if Ethan would have married someone else...maybe his kids would have had a chance to live a normal life." Kristina thought grimly. She often wondered how her husband's life would have changed by her dying.

"Ethan refused to leave me on campus that weekend. I agreed to come back to Port Charles with him. By the time we'd made it back…it was horrible. The police were searching for the eldest Zacchara, my father was in custody, and the accident victim's family was trying to kill my father. The police commissioner had just lost his daughter in that horrible explosion hours before. It was sheer chaos."

"And you and Ethan walked right into that sheer chaos."

"By the time I arrived home Helena was already there. Sitting on my couch just…smirking at me. She had been waiting for us. I guess it was a setup, for Ethan to freak out and force me to come back into town. I walked through the doors and…they were tied up."

"Who had been tied up?"

"My mom and my little sister Molly." Kristina answered remember the moment she opened that door to the lake house.

"_You didn't have to walk me to my door." She said not believing after all the horrible news she'd received that day her stomach still got butterflies whenever Ethan was around. They were walking slowly towards her front door arms interloped as they often did when walking together. _

"_Believe me luv, I'm not letting you out of my sight until I knew you were safe and sound."_

"_Thank you…for tonight." Kristina said once they reached the lake house door. "I really appreciate you coming to check on me."_

"_I'd never let anything happen to you. Besides, I should be the one thanking you... for being a friend." Ethan said the words falling out of his mouth awkwardly. They both paused for a moment gazing into each other's eyes both not wanting the night to end. Kristina scrunched her face up as she tilted her head to the side._

"_Isn't that an old theme song to some show?" She asked breaking the tension. Ethan chuckled softly grabbing the key from Kristina's hands and unlocking the lake house door. They both noticed the scene in front of them at the same time. Helena Cassadine sitting with her legs crossed on the Alexis's couch. Molly and Alexis were both tied up very similarly to the way she'd had Ethan and Luke the day prior._

"_So nice of the lovebirds to join us!" Helena said smiling at the pair. _

_Kristina, I was just telling your mother have fabulous it is, you're little obsession over Luke's—oops I mean Robert Scorpio's son. And Ethan dear, I was beginning to wonder how long it was going to take for the drug's effects to wear off. You're quite a weak young man to have 'Scorpio' blood in you." Ethan gripped Kristina by the waist out of instinct just as she was about to lunge forward._

"_Oh look at them! He knows what she's going to do before she even does it. How precious! They'll give you lovely bastard grandchildren Alexis." Helena said taking one of her fingers and running in through Alexis's hair. Kristina slipped past Ethan too quick for him to grab her as she rushed towards Helena aiming for her throat. It was then that Ethan noticed the two large bodyguards hiding in the corners. One grabbed Kristina and the other grabbed a hold of Ethan dragging him out of the house locking the door behind him._

"_Let go of me!" Kristina yelled hitting the abnormally large man who seemed amused by her aggressiveness. Helena let out a loud cackle as she walked towards Kristina she motioned for the bodyguard to release Kristina._

"_You know who you remind me of Kristina? Your weak, whore of a biological grandmother Kristin. You should've named her Kristin, Alexis. Your namesake was a weak whore as well, but you have so much Kristin in you it's almost sickening. My goodness, it's a shame you come from such a long blood line of useless women."_

"_Fuck you." Kristina said gritting her teeth. Helena slapped her face hard. Kristina reached out and touches the spot on her face that Helena hit. _

"_I figured you wouldn't react much, you're used to getting slapped around." Helena joked as her bodyguard grabbed Kristina again. _

"_You know, I've seen a lot of horrible things in my lifetime. I've lost a lot of family. Both of my sons, my dear Mikkos. This town has made my heart suffer."_

"_So?"_

"_So! I think it's time I made this town suffer as much as I have these past couple of decades."_

"_You being in this town makes everyone suffer." Helena smirked at Kristina as she gingerly walked over to where Alexis was seated ripping the duct tape off of her roughly._

"_Kristina please just stop talking to her!" Alexis warned. _

"_Why shouldn't she? I would hate for you two—oh I'm sorry you three to not get a chance to say your final goodbyes." Helena said walking over to where Molly was._

"_I'm not even sure that I want to take the duct tape off this one. Boy is she chatty."_

"_Leave my sister alone!" Ignoring Kristina Helena ripped the duct tape from Molly's mouth._

"_So which one will it be Alexis?" Helena asked running her hand through Molly's hair. _

"_Let them go." Alexis spoke in a calm rational voice. Kristina was surprised by how calm her usually frantic mother was being in this hostage situation._

"_Why should I?"_

"_Because it would be a poor choice for you to kill a Cassadine heir."_

"_You're not worthy to be called a Cassadine. Not to mention both girls are tainted with Corinthos blood." Helena said grimacing at the mere thought. _

"_I am going to kill one of your daughters tonight Natasha Alexandra…which one will it be?"_

"_Kill me instead." Alexis told her, Molly let out a whimper as Kristina fought against her captor._

"_Mom no!"_

"_Kristina hush!"_

"_Kill me Helena! You want to hurt Ethan? Kill me! You saw how quickly he got to me when he thought you were coming after me! This isn't about my mom, it's about Luke. Luke and Ethan have a connection like no other. You want Luke to suffer, then make Ethan suffer! You kill me and it'll destroy Ethan!" Kristina tried to bargain. Yes, it was a bit of a stretch, but how much did Helena really know about her and Ethan's relationship?_

_"I would like nothing more than to kill you my dear but let's have a little fun with your mom first." Helena said winking at Kristina as she walked back over taking a seat on their couch. She crossed her legs and then smiled at their mother. "Alexis, do you have any objections to me killing Kristina? Maybe want to bargain with me, just for the hell of it? Beg for this girl's meaningless life? Or is little Kristina going to sacrifice herself without her mommy even trying to save her?"_

_Suddenly Alexis began to murmur something in a foreign language. Molly and Kristina exchanged worried glances as Helena was the only one who could understand her. _

_It was definitely Russian; Alexis had only spoken in the foreign language a few times in front of Kristina. She'd picked up a few things from growing up around Nicholas but could not understand or speak almost any Russian. Her ears perked up as she heard the name Mikkos._

_Helena yelled something back to her in Russian and Alexis laughed out loud almost sneering at Helena. She watched her step-grandmother ball up her first a shout something else in Russian. Kristina looked up at the bodyguard whose grip on her had loosened. Apparently he was just as fascinated by this foreign conversation as she was. She took the opportunity to kick him in the groin and then tried to bum rush Helena._

_Helena Cassadine was old, but too quick even for her. In that instant pulled out a knife seemingly out of thin air and was by Alexis's side with a knife against her throat._

Kristina stopped her story to look up at her therapist once again. Michelle looked truly horrified by Kristina's recap of her life events.

"Did she…"

"No. She told her guard who had been holding me to go find Ethan. Once it was just the four of us she cut my mom loose and then my sister." Kristina told her, remember how relieved she was at the time. "I just remember her hugging me and Molly, telling us how much she loved us and how she'd do anything for us. Then it happened. Helena pulled her back by her hair and slit her throat. "She heard Michelle gasp, dropping her pen on her desk.

"Molly's scream…it was so…it was the worst sound I'd ever heard. All I could do was hold her tighter. I didn't know what to do, I'd been around violence my entire life, but never—never had I ever witnessed someone get the throat sliced in front of me. "Kristina hadn't realized she was crying until the wet droplets hit her chest.

"Ethan busted through the doors of the house shortly after. He fired a shot at Helena but missed. He grabbed Molly and told us to run. I took my sister's hand and we ran out of our childhood home, her bodyguards weren't far behind us but we could outrun them and ended up hiding in the bushes a few feet away from the house."

"Molly she just she was so angry. She blamed me, said it was my fault my mom was dead. I tried explaining to her but she said she hated me, that she wished it would've been me instead. I went back for Ethan; I was close to the house when I heard a gunshot. The only thing I could think of was, I'd just witnessed my mother's murder, and I couldn't handle Ethan dying too. I ran back towards the house as hard as I could the guards couldn't even catch me; I made it into the house before them and locked the door. Ethan had been shot in the arm. His gun was right beside him he pushed it over to me and I grabbed the gun and took a shot...and shot…and shot…I shot at her until there were no more bullets left in the gun."

"Did you kill her?"

"No, despite the violence I'd grown up around I'd never even held a gun in my hand before my dad bought me one let alone shot one. I hit the fireplace, grazed her shoulder, I got her in the leg, it didn't kill her but it brought her to the ground. It gave Ethan enough time to get up he took the gun from me and told me we had to run. Her guards ran into the house and immediately went to help her. She told them she wanted me and Ethan's lifeless corpses to be displayed for the town to see. The front door was blocked so we ran out the back. I could hear sirens in the background but we both knew if we went towards the front of the lake house Helena's men would get to us before he cops. It was stupid, we could've waited for the cops, but really, in a town like that the police were no use. When Helena Cassadine decides she wants you dead, you die."

"I have so many regrets about that night. Not saying goodbye to my sister. Not being able to save my mother. At the time, Ethan and I believed hiding out for a couple months would be adequate. We barely escaped out of Port Charles alive. I tried to contact my sister, everyone's phone lines were tapped. We'd make a call and within the next couple hours we were packing up because someone was trying to break into where we were staying. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if Molly got killed because of me. So after talking it over carefully Ethan and I decided not to come back to Port Charles for a long period of time."

"When we realized we were pregnant a couple months later with Aviana I knew our lifestyle had to change. The moment I realized I was going to be responsible for another life I knew in my heart that I could never return to Port Charles. We got married, I went to school and we both started careers. We eventually settled down here in Flowerton." Kristina finished trying to make the positives in her life outshine the horrible story she had just retold.

"Kristina, do you truly believe that Helena Cassadine is still out there to hurt you or your husband?" Michelle asked her. Kristina and Ethan had discussed the possibility that maybe Helena had died and all would be forgotten. But Kristina could remember vaguely a tale about Stavros, her cousin Nicholas's father. There were zero surprises when it came to dealing with the Cassadines.

"Yes, I truly believe she can still hurt us." Kristina replied. "I live with the guilt of abandoning my family every single day. But my children mean the world to me. Port Charles is a breeding ground for all things evil. I would never want my son or daughter to grow up the way I did. I never wanted them to know that I'm a Cassadine, or a Corinthos, that their father is a Spencer."

"This happened 14 years ago,"

"Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter if Helena is 120 years old, doesn't matter if she's buried 6 feet under. Coming back from the dead isn't at all strange in Port Charles. Evil never dies." Michelle was scribbling again, this time on her prescription pad. She ripped off the prescription handing it to Kristina.

"I think you should have this filled." She told her smiling encouragingly at her. Kristina looked down at the prescription for the antidepressant and scowled.

"I don't need _drugs_ Michelle. I need to know how I stop my daughter from uncovering my horrific past!"

"Kristina—"

"It was a mistake coming here! Obviously you have no intention on hearing me out!"

"It's a low side effect, low toxicity drug. In small doses I'm sure it will help. You'll be able to see things a bit more rationally." Michelle explained.

"Do you really think I'm making the entire thing up? I'm not crazy! I don't need antidepressants!" Kristina yelled at her jumping up from her seat as she grabbed her purse. Michelle rushed from behind her desk giving Kristina a pleading look.

"No Kristina I apologize I just—"

"I have to go. I've made a huge mistake coming here. You're the wrong person for help with this matter." Kristina told her exiting Dr. Bayer's office. She waited until she safely locked in her car and half way around the corner before she broke down again. Kristina knew exactly who she had to call, the one other person who knew how it felt to be forced to stay away from Port Charles to protect their family. She just hoped she would hear her out.


	5. Chapter 5

**I do apologize for not updating quicker. With the Kristina recast + maid of honor duties + bridesmaid duties for the other wedding I'm in + memorizing lines for the movie I'm in I have zero time for myself or writing which sucks. So I'm going to attempt to get out at least 2 or 3 chapters in the next couple of days to move this story along! Thanks for reading! Also so sorry for a short update!**

**5.**

"About time someone came home! I'm starving." Ethan heard as soon as he walked through the front doors of his home. He found his two children sitting on the sofa side by side with a box of sugared cereal between them.

"Where's your mom?" He asked taking the cereal box from them popping a few pieces into his mouth as he shook his head at them.

"You shouldn't be eating this for dinner. I can't believe we even have it in the house. It's full of sugar." He told them his mouth full of cereal.

"You bought it," Alex pointed out.

"I have no idea where mom is. I came home from school and she wasn't here. I tried her cell phone twice and she's not picking up for me." Aviana answered taking the box of cereal back from her father and setting it back in between her and her little brother.

Ethan pulled out his cell phone and dialed his wife's number to no avail. He frowned; this was unlike Kristina not to pick up their calls. His mind raced back to their argument this morning, he hadn't seen Kristina that angry in a very long time.

Without saying a word to the kids Ethan walked briskly down the hall to the master bedroom suite he shared with his wife. The room looked the exactly the same as he'd left it that morning. Kristina's clothes and jewelry still in its rightful place. _She didn't leave me, thank God_. He thought to himself. He was preparing to close the door when he noticed the light to their walk-in closet was on.

He opened the door to the closet to find Kristina's clothes scattered everywhere, the box where Kristina kept her Port Charles memories she believed he didn't know about was opened and out of the box was that picture of herself with her mom and sisters. He hated that Kristina was hurting, even more so knowing that he was responsible for initiating the pain.

"Dad?" At the sound of Aviana's voice he dropped the picture of Kristina and her family. He could hear her footsteps getting closer, he turned off the light and walked out of the closet immediately.

"Dad is mom alright?"

"Fine, she's fine. Come on let's go order something for dinner." He told her guiding her closer to the exit by the small of her back. Aviana looked up at him suspiciously.

"If something's wrong can you please tell me?" She said stopping him. Alex crept into the room.

"She left didn't she?" Alex asked his voice filled with panic. Aviana gasped.

"Oh my God, did mom leave us?" Ethan opened his mouth to speak when the headlights of what he could only assume was Kristina's car shone into the window.

"Stay here, I'm going to go check on her." He told them guiding them out of the bedroom and closing the door. He could only imagine what his wife had in store for him.

* * *

><p>"…<em>and if they haven't made an immediate move than I doubt anyone is looking for the two of you."<em> Kristina rolled her eyes at the person speaking to her over the phone. It had taken her hours to finally get connected to her source who at the moment wasn't being very resourceful

"I have no doubt in my mind that someone else spotted Aviana that night. If there's anyone who could help us fight her it would be you." Kristina said turning into her driveway. She pressed the button for the garage doors and eased her car inside to avoid the rain.

"_Kristina, I really have no idea how I could be a help to you or Ethan in anyway. Our situations are completely different."_

"Our situations are completely different and yet surprisingly similar. Please, I'm just asking you to hear me out, if Helena would come looking for us—"

"_I'm sure Helena is dead and buried by now."_

"You and I both know that just because people assume you're dead that doesn't always mean that it's the truth. I thought you of all people would have figured that our by now."

"_Kristina…"_

"I think we would have a better chance of surviving if you helped us fight her. She would expect the two of us, but you being there, not only would if throw her off, but I know you could manage to escape if it came down to that."

"_I think that is a really bad idea. I'm lucky to have escaped years ago. If he found me again…"_

"What about your family?" Kristina pressed, fighting the guilt that was nipping at her gut. It was low blow but a final attempt for help.

"_What about _your_ family?_ "

"My family? What about your family? Don't you dare attempt to us a guilt trip on me Kristina Davis. I want my family to be safe just as much as yours!" Kristina sighed as she turned the volume down on her call.

"You're right I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone there." She could hear the hurt in her friend's voice on the other line. Kristina was at a loss for words. The one person outside of her husband that she trusted and she was throwing them under the bus too.

"_Look Kristina maybe—"_ There was a knock on her car window that made her jump.

"_Krissy? Are you okay?"_

"I'll call you later." She said hanging up her phone and she unlocked her car door and slid out to greet her husband.

"Luv, are you okay?"

"Fine." She replied closing her door and making her way to the backseat. Cooking dinner was out of the question that night so she'd picked up some take-out Chinese on her way back home. Hanging the bags to Ethan she wordlessly walked around him and into the house where her children greeted her with hugs.

"Um, wow, what did I do to deserve such a warm welcome from everyone?" She asked putting her purse down.

"You didn't pick up your phone." Aviana told her.

"I thought you left us." Alex told her in a small voice. Kristina's heart broke and she pulled her children in and gave Ethan an apologetic look as he walked by them placing the Chinese on the table.

"I will never leave the two of you…or your father for that matter. I just needed a couple hours to clear my head." Alex's stomach growling made Kristina's smile.

"Your dad just brought in some takeout for Mr. Chan's." She hinted almost stumbling over as her kids quickly released her and sprinted towards the kitchen.

* * *

><p><em>Hi, you've reached the voicemail of Molly Lansing. Sorry I missed your call. Leave me a message and I'll return your call as soon as possible! Toodles!<em>

"Mollz, it's me. You never got back to me on joining us for dinner. Guess you're busy? I'll tell my mom to save a plate just in case you change your mind…alright…goodnight….bye." Cameron hung up from the phone call feeling extremely lame.

He'd casually mention to Molly on Saturday that his mom would be making dinner Monday night and that she was welcome to join them. Molly had sort of brushed it off with a smile and a "I'll think about it", but it was way she said she would think about it that gave him hope.

Was Aiden right? Was he really that desperate for Molly's attention? Sadly, he knew the answer. He'd been a sucker for Molly Lansing for almost 10 years now. Shaking the thoughts of Molly out of his head Cameron fished around the back seat of his car. Of course he had no umbrella and it was pouring outside. Stuffing his cell phone in his pocket Cameron braced himself to make a run for the front door of his childhood home. As soon as he stepped out of the car he was drenched. Darting across the lawn he wasn't even completely on the porch before the front door swung open and his petite mother popped her head out giving him an exasperated look.

"Hi sweetheart," Liz said trying to pull him into a hug.

"Mom I'm soaked." Ignoring his protests Liz gave him a tight hug. Cameron pulled back giving her a questioning look. Elizabeth's eyes said it all. He'd come home just in time.

"What's Aiden done this time?" He asked ushering her back inside as she closed the door behind them.

"Whoa, why am I always the one getting blamed?" Aiden asked jogging down the steps. "Not everything bad that happens is my fault," He told his older brother as he jumped down the last step Cameron pinching the back of his neck as he walked by him and into the kitchen.

"He's right for once," Elizabeth replied taking a seat on their couch. Ju

"Are you going to let me in on what's going on then, Mom?"

"So where's Molly? I thought she was joining us tonight?" Elizabeth asked changing the subject. Cameron felt his heart sink once again.

"I don't know, I told her about it Saturday but it was nothing definite I guess." He replied to his mother not even bothering to hide his disappointment. Although he'd never admitted how loud to his obsession over Molly, his mother knew him too well.

"I'm sorry baby,"

"It's fine. It's better this way, spending time with you and the trouble maker in there," He joked watching as his mother gave him another sad smile. "Okay Mom, I'm serious tell me what's wrong. It's written all over your face."

"It's nothing,"

"No it is something," Aiden told him walking out of the kitchen with 3 plates and 3 sets of silverware in his hands. He placed them on the dining room table and then came back into the living standing next to Elizabeth.

"She's upset because Dad's coming home."

"I'm sorry—what?" Cameron asked jumping up. Elizabeth stood in between her boys putting comforting hands on each of their shoulders.

"Please, could both of you calm down?"

"Calm down? Mom why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"For a visit Cameron. Lucky is coming home for a visit," Liz said giving Aiden a warning look.

"Since when is this his home?"

"I've already told her I don't want to see him." Aiden said his blood boiling at just the thought of seeing his father again. Everyone had so many wonderful stories about how great of a father Lucky Spencer was, how dedicated Lucky Spencer was to his family. How dedicated could a man be from 3,000 miles away? He hadn't seen his father since he was 13, and that was during one of his very brief visits.

"Aiden don't talk about your father that way! Lucky called me today to let me know that he's going to be flying in sometime this week to see the family."

"How very noble of him," Cameron told her sarcastically.

"Cam—"

"Mom I'm sorry but I can't sit here and pretend to be happy that he's coming for a visit. I gave up on Dad a long time ago. He abandoned us!"

"He was grieving!"

"For a wife he knew for what? 6 months? How about me? How about Aiden? How about you mom?"

"He's still your father!" It broke Cameron's heart seeing his mother on the verge of tears, but her constant defending of their father leaving them struck a nerve.

"No, Lucky Spencer stopped being my father the moment he walked out of those doors and never returned."

"I second that," Aiden said pulling his mom into a hug.

"I don't want you and your brother hating Lucky for what happened between us," Aiden wiped the tears that had fallen from his mother's eyes.

"Mom, I was too young to know what happened between you and Dad. But I know that a father isn't supposed to abandon his kids. In my 15 ½ years on this earth I have only a handful of memories with dad because he was too selfish to even attempt to bond with me. Cameron's right, he stopped being a father the day he walked out on us. The only father I've ever known is you. You've been mom, dad, everything to us." Aiden sent Liz into a blubbering mess as both her boys gave her a hug.

Elizabeth wiped her eyes looking between both of her sons and sighed.

"You two are wonderful," She laughed as she blew out a heavy breath. "Alright, no more crying! I'm have to take this chicken out of the oven before it overcooks, okay? Aiden could you set the table please? I'll be right back."

Elizabeth quickly walked around them and into her kitchen. Cameron and Aiden exchanged worried glances as loud noises from the kitchen filled the air.

"Aiden, if you're here when dad comes make sure that you call me." Aiden nodded his head in understanding.

* * *

><p>"How much do you two love me?" Aviana asked that night as she sat down at the dinner table. If she wanted her plan to work, she had to do this fast. Ethan and Kristina exchanged glances at each other. Both knew that nothing good ever came from Aviana asking that question.<p>

"Depends on how much it's going to cost me, love." Ethan told her passing the large container of sesame chicken to his daughter. He became ridiculously giddy when he noticed a slight smirk on Kristina's face. Unphased by her father, Aviana shook off his comment and continued with a smile.

"As you both know, Wednesday the 7th grade class is going to the Planetarium in DC." She started out, across from her Alexander rolled his eyes.

"Yes…" Ethan said preparing himself for whatever Aviana had in store for them.

"Well, Kaley and I wanted to do a pre-planetarium girls' night sleepover tomorrow."

"I'm sorry a _what_?"

"A sleepover. So we can try on our field trip clothes and do our hair. And then of course on the bus ride to DC I'll do Kaley's makeup since her mom won't let her wear any," Aviana explained wanted to grin like a Cheshire cat when she noticed the scowl on her mom's face at the mention of Kaley's mom.

"That _woman_. I still can't believe at the last PTA meeting she told me that lip gloss is inappropriate for 13 year old girls and that I should be ashamed of myself for promoting baby prostitution. It's a wonder Kaley's as normal as she is," Kristina said angrily. It was a well known fact that she and Hanna, Kaley's mother, had two very different methods of parenting and did not attempt to disguise the face that they disagreed with each other's methods.

"So…is that a yes?" Aviana asked slowly. She hadn't even buttered them up yet, maybe her trip to Port Charles would go over smoother than expected.

"That's a 'we'll think about it'," Ethan answered he waited for his wife to chime in, when she didn't he backed up his decision. "Wednesday will still be a school day, I don't want you and Kaley up half the night before."

"We wouldn't! And Wednesday is going to be like a Saturday! We have zero class work that day. We come into school and then head straight to the bus!"

"And why would you need to do your hair for a field trip? You're only going to the planetarium." Ethan asked. Aviana and Kristina both cracked huge smiles at the same time.

"Obviously, I've missed the joke." Kristina reached out and touched her husband's hand gently.

"Ethan, do you remember the way I was when I was a teenager?" She asked.

"Of course I do. In face I have some very vivid memories,"

"Do you remember the time I decided to get that bootylicious makeover ?" She asked thinking back to that not so flattering time in her life.

"Yes I do. By the way, I'm not sure if I ever told you, but you were really cute, even with those low cut dresses with the bras poking out." Ethan said breaking into a smile. Kristina pinched him playfully.

"I was 18 give me a break. Do you remember the reason why I got the makeover?" She asked again almost in tears when the smile fell from Ethan's face.

"No—what?"

"I don't get it. Why did you get a makeover?" Alex asked his mom.

"Avi, instead of this planetarium trip how about we start looking at girls' only boarding schools?"

"Oh Ethan stop." Kristina said waving him off.

"I still don't get it. I'm in this conversation too." Alex said dropping his fork on the table. Kristina smiled at her.

"I'm sorry sweetheart. I got the makeover hoping that you dad would notice me."

"Did it work?" He asked Kristina cringed at the thought.

"Um, not really. In fact, it didn't really help at all. You see kids, back then your dad was an idiot." She joked.

"Thanks honey. Actually Alex, Aviana your mom tried to change her appearance thinking it would get me to notice her when I'd noticed her all along."

"How come she didn't know?" Alex asked. He loved when his parents would talk about the time before they were a couple. It made it easier for him to put the pieces to the puzzle together.

"Because I was too afraid of admitting my feelings for her back then."

"What changed your mind?" Aviana asked.

"Yes Ethan, what did change your mind?" Kristina challenged raising an eyebrow at him.

"_Well_, if you must know. It was the moment when I looked in those brown eyes and realized that your mother had become my entire life and that I couldn't live without her." He told them honestly.

"Damn you Ethan Lovett, I'm supposed to be mad at you!" Kristina said feeling herself get choked up after hearing his words, Ethan let out a low chuckle as he took the seat Kristina was in and slid it closer to his giving her a peck on her lips.

"I love you,"

"Ew!" Alex and Aviana said in unison making disgusted faces at their parents.

"So does that mean I can go to the sleepover? I may meet the guy who's going to think I'm his entire world at the planetarium!" Aviana exclaimed excitedly. Ethan pulled apart from his wife and gave Aviana stern look.

"You do and he'll be a dead man," He told her as Kristina snorted with laughter.

* * *

><p>Later that evening Aviana Lovett was packing her bags for her 'sleepover' at Kaley's tomorrow. The bus fare would be expensive, but she had $300 dollars saved from babysitting, Christmas money, birthday money that her parents didn't know she stashed away. She had been texting Aiden back and forth; he promised her that he would find a safe place for her to crash while she was in town.<p>

"I know you aren't going to Kaley's for a sleepover tomorrow," Alex said walking into her bedroom. Aviana quickly shut her bedroom door and glared at Alex.

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm going to Kaley's tomorrow,"

"I read your message from Aiden. I know—"

"You _hacked_ into my Slosh account again? I told you to never do that again! What is wrong with you?"

"No what's wrong with you? Mom and Dad almost got divorced because of you!" Aviana snorted.

"Yeah right. Mom and Dad aren't getting a divorce. They had a fight, they needed time to cool off, and now they're all lovely dovey again. Did you not see them at dinner?"

"I'm telling mom that you're meeting Aiden Spencer!" Alex said his hand ready to open the bedroom door.

"You do and I'll tell them both exactly how you got the money to fix your laptop." She said to her younger brother smirking at the nervous look that appeared across his face. A couple months ago she noticed Alex coming home from school with loads of cash. He'd been scamming his classmates out of their lunch money at recess with the card tricks their dad had taught them.

Kristina told them on several different occasions that she did not want them using Ethan's card scams for money. They could play each other, but never use what their dad had taught them to scam other people.

"You wouldn't!"

"I would. You throw me under the bus baby brother and you're coming with me."

"Mom and dad would still be more mad at you."

"I also know that you hacked into your math's teacher's grading system and changed your C- to a A. How do you think they'd feel about that one?" Aviana toyed.

"Are you done attempting to blackmail me Alexander? I'll be back Wednesday night, the same time as the field trip will be over. Mom's not going to call Hanna, if you think anything suspicious is about to happen please distract them. Alright? Deal?"

"I have no choice."

"Good then it's a deal. I promise you Alexander, I'm going back there because we both deserve answers. If mom and dad aren't going give us those answers then we need to get them ourselves."


End file.
